In this blog, we identify some of the social media marketing mistakes many start-ups make – and how to avoid them.
2020, over 3.6 billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to almost 4.41 billion in 2025. It’s difficult to fathom how that’s even possible!
In the majority of cases, it’s free! So it’s no surprise that businesses – particularly start-up businesses – use social media as an integral element of their marketing strategy. Actually, it could be argued that most start-up businesses actually need a social media presence to succeed; it’s a prerequisite.
Driving traffic to a website, increasing customer engagement and boosting sales are all goals start-up businesses may have – and all can be accomplished by using social media to communicate with customers and promote products and services. However, there are mistakes that can (and are often) made by start-up businesses. This blog post identifies some of these potential errors that may be made – and how to avoid them.
1. Choosing the wrong platform
A common faux pas made by start-up businesses when promoting their business on social media is actually selecting the wrong channel to promote their business and build their brand. By setting up business accounts on platforms that are incompatible with a business’s activities, individuals could be wasting time, effort and money, without gaining anything in return – and nobody wants that!
Selecting a platform according to the nature of your business and where your customers are spending their time is, by far, the most sensible course of action.
Here at Greenbank Marketing, we would suggest if you have a visual business in industries such as fashion, beauty or some sort of design, you may find success using photo-based channels such as Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest, whereas if you are in a field such as accounting, law or finance, you may connect more with your audience by using text-based platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter.
2. Posting inconsistently
A flurry of posts during one week and then being silent the next is considered a massive blunder when carrying out social media activities.
Not only will the algorithm of social media channels not appreciate this, but your followers/friends also won’t either! The algorithm welcomes and rewards consistent posting – at the same time every day.
Unreliable and erratic posting may lead to frustration amongst your followers and, ultimately, an increase of unfollows. As a start-up business, this is massively detrimental. You want to be building and developing your following steadily in a constant and dependable manner. Not decreasing your audience through lack of planning and inconsistency.
3. Poorly timed posts
Linking into the above point is not posting when your audience is online and active. At Greenbank Marketing, we always advise upgrading your social media accounts to business accounts, wherever possible. This will unveil a plethora of tools and insights at your disposal.
One of these is ‘most active times’ data, where your social media platform displays when your followers are online. Often, there are graphs to visually represent the days and times your followers are most active. Therefore, we strongly advise you to take these statistics into consideration when you devise your social media posting plan and ensure your posting schedule fits in with when your followers are on the app.
4. Failing to measure social media success
Considered by some as the most mundane aspect of a social media strategy – yet a highly important one – is monitoring and measuring what is working for your business’s social media and what is not.
The above-mentioned tools and insights that you are able to access through a business account are hugely valuable in evaluating success. From likes and comments to saves and reposts, as well as reach and click-through rates, you are able to identify which posts are effective and which are less so.
For example, using motivational quotes or sayings may be well received by your followers but industry facts may not be. Using this information can shape your future social media strategies – by responding to your audience’s favourable actions such as incorporating more quotes and passages (without saturating your feed) and finding a different, more engaging way to communicate facts and figures, you may see a rise in engagement.
5. Not having a social marketing strategy
We always recommend creating and developing a strategy (overarching goals) and a plan (campaigns to reach your goals). By doing this, you are creating a foundation for your start-up business when it comes to digital marketing.
Another reason for creating a strategy for social media is because today’s purchasing decisions are increasingly made via social media. Studies show that social media users research social media channels before purchasing – and that users actually decide to buy certain products and services based on posts, Stories and Reels they see on social media, including reviews and recommendations. Therefore, as a start-up business, your social media strategy should help you identify how to encourage people to share and discuss your products and services – and how social media plays a role in your customers’ buying process.
Here at Greenbank Marketing, we can review your existing social media channels through our social media audits and we also offer a social media strategy service too!
6. Posting content that adds no value to your audience
Some businesses often post promotional content far too frequently, regularly being seen as ‘salesy’ or spammy.
Whilst we appreciate your social media channels provide you with a platform to share information about your products and services. It is also important to recognise that Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and LinkedIn should also be focused on your audience.
Social media success will come from providing images and captions which capture attention, inspire, motivate, engage and add value for your followers – in a nutshell, offering interesting content.
As marketing experts, here at Greenbank Marketing, we will help you find a balance between promoting your products and services in an attractive and appealing way, increasing engagement with your customers and building your brand.
7. Not engaging with your social media following
…the vital word being ‘social’! Start-up businesses cannot work in a vacuum on social media. Whichever social media platform you choose to use for your business is a community. And it’s an important one because this community holds your customers, your ambassadors and maybe even your competitors.
Customer service is fundamental to a brand’s reputation. It is a way to communicate with your audience by providing support, acknowledging complaints and appreciating customers’ positive reviews. It is a way to directly connect with existing and potential customers.
Maintaining your start-up brand’s tone of voice, message and language is vital, particularly when handling negative feedback. Retaining a calm and constructive approach will earn respect and foster loyalty to the customer you are communicating with.
In addition to responding to comments, mentions and tags, it is also important to make time to reply to direct messages. Less public, these messages build extremely strong brand-customer relationships.
8. Waiting too long to get going!
Start-up businesses can fall into the trap of not starting at all!
New businesses have a lot to cope with in their infancy. Product sourcing or creation, brand and website design, legal matters, accountancy or financial worries. It’s understandable that social media marketing may not be high on the list.
However, social media is where people engage, learn and purchase so it is important for start-up businesses to take the leap and jump in! Prioritising social media by planning a posting schedule and creating interesting and engaging content can make all the difference.
At Greenbank Marketing, we recommend selecting one or two social media platforms that suit the nature of their business – it’s a great place to start! And we can help you with the rest.
So that concludes our rundown of some of the social media marketing mistakes many start-ups make – and how to avoid them.
Please do get in touch to access any of our digital marketing services including social media audits, social media strategy, social media management and social media one-to-one consultancy.
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